I shut it down. I couldn’t go there.
Noah’s posture shifted. Protective. “Alex.”
Alex blinked. Looked at Noah like he was trying to place him. “Uh—“
“Noah Patel. I’m Liam’s roommate,” Noah said.
“Right. Sorry.” Alex’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Noah. “Congrats on the debate. That was... really impressive.”
“Thanks.”
Silence stretched between the three of us.
Alex shifted his weight and looked at me. “Can we talk? Just for a second. Alone.”
Noah stepped closer to my side. “Anything you need to say to him, you can say to me.”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “Alright. We need to talk about the thing.”
“The video?” Noah asked.
“You know about the video?”
“Of course he does, he’s my best friend,” I said.
Noah’s head snapped toward me. Eyebrows raised. A small smile tugging at his mouth.
I kept my eyes on Alex and ignored the warmth creeping up my neck.
Noah would absolutely bring this up later. I already knew it
“I can’t live with it hanging over my head,” Alex said.
Yeah. I can't either.
“Noah might have a solution,” I said.
Alex looked at Noah.
Noah pulled out his phone. “One of my friends from computer science—tech guy from the debate circuit. He figured out a way to trace restricted numbers.”
“You can trace it?” Alex’s voice cracked. Relief bleeding through.
“Give me a couple days. I’ll backtrack the number. Figure out who sent it.”
“That’s—“ Alex exhaled. “Thank you.”
“Me and Noah aren’t doing this alone,” I said.
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“You’ve gotta come help.”
Immediately, I regretted it.
Spending more time with Alex. More opportunities for Emily to ask questions I couldn’t answer. More chances for this whole thing to blow up.
But Alex nodded. Too fast. Too eager. “Okay. What do we do once we trace it?”
